


Wicked Game

by situation_normal



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Author does not believe in the supernatural, Ben Solo is an arse, But i stg there will be character development, Childhood Trauma, Does it count as fake dating if only one party knows its fake?, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Happy Ending, My eyes are bleeding from research, POV Alternating, Please dont read this if you are either a psychologist or a psychic, Psychic Rey (Star Wars), Psychologist Ben Solo, Recovery, Rey (Star Wars) has issues, Rey (Star Wars) is a scammer btw, Reylo - Freeform, Slow Burn, Watch Ben Solo fuck up his own unethical psychological experiment, ben solo has issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-20 07:02:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17017989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/situation_normal/pseuds/situation_normal
Summary: Psychologist Ben Solo doesn't believe in love... well, that's not strictly true. He doesn't believe inwomen'sability to love. And he's planning to prove his theory with an extremely questionable experiment.Psychic Rey can't wait to meet the famous psychologist moving into the office space above her café. Fingers crossed he's a nice guy!Read: Ben Solo thinks he can make Rey fall in love with him for the purpose of an experiment. Absolutely no chance that this could go wrong in any way. Obviously.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to Jedi Master **[Kate_Reid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kate_Reid)** for betaing this for me. Your Padawan learner is grateful.
> 
> I already have chapter two of this written, I'm planning to keep to an update schedule of Sundays, so I'm keeping myself from posting as I write. Attempting to keep chapters ~3k words so it's not overwhelming to look at a blank doc.
> 
> This premise is from a TV show called Madame Antoine, but I'm just going to go ahead and do whatever the frick I want with it.

“Let us take a moment to go over your proposal again, Mr Solo; I’m not certain I heard you correctly. You’re saying that you can prove, with this ‘experiment,’ that there is no such thing as true love.” The old man’s ugly face twisted into an unpleasant smirk.

Ben narrowed his eyes slightly and cocked his head in thought. “Not exactly, Mr Snoke. My hypothesis is that women, in particular, are incapable of real love. I don’t believe that my experiment will cross any ethical boundaries, and if you provide funding, you will be free to use the results in any way you please.”

Snoke tented his fingers, leaning toward Ben over his mahogany desk. “I’m interested. This study could revolutionise the way we market our products to women. And you’re certain there will be no questions about ethics?”

Ben shrugged. “I don’t see why. If my theory proves to be correct, no-one would be hurt in any real way. The subject will have to sign a consent form prior to commencement; she will be provided with counselling when the experiment concludes.”

“And you’re starting with a woman in her twenties?”

“That’s right. If the experiment is a success, I will repeat it with more women, and I’ll add women in their thirties.”

“Do you have your first subject prepared?”

_I don’t even have a damn office yet._ “As of right now... no. But with your assistance, we could set up practice within a week, and advertise for volunteers shortly after,” Ben said, straining his unwilling mouth into what he hoped was a pleasing smile.

“You really are a vile human, Solo.”

Ben tried his best to suppress that eye roll, he really did. _Pretty rich coming from you._ “I am a product of my mother’s love.”

++++

Rey placed the steaming cup of coffee on the table in front of her latest client, taking the seat across from him. “Good afternoon. My colleague told me that you’ve requested a reading today?”

The man nodded, anxiously fiddling with his hands. _He’s never done anything like this before, then,_ Rey surmised.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” he mumbled, embarrassed. “I just feel so lost.”

Rey smiled kindly at him, and closed the purple taffeta drape around the booth to give them more privacy. “Relax, you have nothing to worry about. I’m a professional. I’m here only to pass on messages and advise you; I’ll help you find your way.”

She knew it was corny, but the man looked at her with hope shining in his eyes, and Rey didn’t feel a single twinge of guilt at the stream of bullshit that was about to evacuate her mouth. Money was money. Rey told them what they wanted to hear, and they paid her for the privilege. How else was she ever going to afford to go back to school?

The man relaxed his posture minutely, and Rey took the chance to read him. Properly. He must be in his fifties. Unshaven, not bearded, but stubbled. Dirty clothes. _Out of work._ Single? No, he was wearing a wedding ring.

A second wedding band—much smaller, but matching—circled the pinkie finger of his left hand. _A widower_. He fidgeted again, rolling the smaller ring around his finger. Rey hummed theatrically. The ring had had time to leave an indent. It’s been months—maybe years.

Common female baby names from the 60s? 70s? “I keep hearing names. I’m going to need your help here, because the messages are sometimes difficult to decipher. Tell me, who are Linda and Mary?”

His eyes widened, and he wrapped his right hand around his left pinkie. “Did you say ‘Marie?’”

Rey didn’t miss a beat. “Yes, your wife, Marie. She’s telling me that her passing was very sudden. Unexpected.”

A car horn beeped outside and the man flinched. It was subtle, but Rey saw it. He mopped his brow and nodded. “It was.”

“She wants you to know that it wasn’t your fault.” Okay, she was going out on a limb here, but it was almost blindingly obvious to her by this point that this man’s wife had been killed in a car accident, and that her husband had never recovered from the trauma of having been the driver.

He pressed a closed fist to his mouth and choked a sob. “It _was_ my fault, though. I was driving; I didn’t check the tyres, even though it was icy.”

Rey reached across the table and took his hand. “Marie is worried about you. She wants you to be happy and move on with your life, so she can be at peace.”

The man sniffed and wiped his eyes. “And... and Linda?”

_Ugh_. They usually let the irrelevant names pass. “Yes... it was a Linda... or a Lisa? Maybe Lindsey? I’m hearing an ‘L’ name?”

“Linda is my mother’s name,” he whispered, a little dramatically.

Rey tried not to look too relieved. Is _my mother’s name. Is._ She’s still alive. Elderly. “Mmm. Marie is telling me that your mother is unwell.”

“That’s right!” he gasped. “She’s in hospital right now having gallstones removed!”

Nice. “You need to take back control of your life. Get back into work. I see a big change in your life, a job involving—” his jacket was covered in dog hair “—animals. Marie wants you to be there for your mother while she’s ill. She wants you to show Linda that she doesn’t have to worry about you anymore. Marie only wants your happiness.”

She wrapped up the reading with a couple of generic predictions. He would have an unexpected problem with his central heating. He would meet an interesting person.

He finished his lukewarm coffee and stayed for a cake before leaving, thanking Rey profusely for her wisdom.

“Snoke called; we're getting new neighbours,” Rose said as she finished putting the coffee machine back together.

Rey glanced up at her from where she was sweeping the floor. “What? The office space on the top floor?”

Rose nodded. “Some famous psychologist or something. Snoke’s funding his research and giving him the use of the office.”

A psychologist? She’d never told Rose that she had such a keen interest in the field—she was hoping to get enough savings together with running the café and doing her “psychic” work to put herself through university.

The idea of a renowned psychologist practising in the same building was actually pretty exciting. She wondered if he’d take his lunch breaks in the cafe. Maybe she could convince him to take her on as an intern.

“I wonder if he’s hot?” Rose mused, snapping Rey out of her daydream.

Rey snorted. “Rose! He’s probably like sixty. Don’t even go there.”

++++

“Dude. Dude, you realise this is crazy, right?”

“We don’t use that word, Finn,” Ben scolded. Interns these days were usually more aware of problematic language.

“Sorry, man. What I meant was, this is psychopathic. What the hell are you _thinking?”_ Finn said, hefting the other end of the filing cabinet up the outside stairs leading up to their new office.

“It's perfectly reasonable.” Ben shifted his hand to get a better hold on his end, attempting to avoid the wet autumn leaves that had turned the metal staircase into a death trap. “One woman; three men. One a similar age to her, attractive, intelligent, decent guy; one older, attractive, not so intelligent, decent guy; one older, average looking, rich, asshole. Guarantee she’ll go for the rich guy.”

“You’ll never get permission to even start this; it’s unethical.”

Ben let the cabinet drop at the top of the stairs with a gentle thud, and brushed his hair out of his eyes. “I've got permission for a preliminary experiment; I’ve got a lot of friends in high places. In the unlikely event that I’m wrong, I probably won’t get permission to continue.”

“But, I mean, getting a girl to fall in love with someone? For the sake of an _experiment?_ I’m serious, man, would you like a consultation? I’m free right now. Maybe we should have a talk about some of your issues.”

Ben flipped him off before turning to unlock the door. “She won’t be in love. That’s the whole point. If she goes for one of the other guys, let’s be honest, it’ll probably end up mutual. If she does as I predict, and goes for ugly, rich asshole, it won’t be real love anyway. It’ll just be observing blind dates to see if there’s any recurring preferences in women’s dating habits.”

“You are such an asshole.”

“Why do people keep saying stuff like that?”

++++

Rose skipped in through the front door and pulled her apron on, grinning at Rey in a way that made her look like she had some kind of exciting secret to tell.

“Our psychologist is moving in. Either he’s not sixty, or he’s hired some hot movers to help him get settled,” she said saucily.

Rey smiled back conspiratorially. “Are they using the outside stairs? Go out and tell them there’s an indoor stairwell if they want to come through the café, since we’re not open yet. The steps out there are dangerous this time of year.”

The door swung open again and a young man with a friendly, handsome face walked in. He raised his hand awkwardly and smiled at Rose, who blushed and waved back. He smiled more confidently at Rey and took another step inside.

“Hey, I’m Finn. We’re just moving our stuff in upstairs, and I was wondering if you were open yet, I could murder a coffee right now,” he said.

Rey sighed. “Sorry, we'll be open in—”

“It's fine!” Rose cut in, giving Rey a pointed look. “We're not open yet, but I’d be happy to make a coffee for our new neighbour!”

_Oh_.

Finn beamed. “Doctor Solo is just unpacking his computer upstairs; I’ll take his up. It’s nice to meet you...?”

“Rose. I’m Rose,” she said quickly, then pointed across to Rey. “This is Rey, she lives here on the middle floor. We run this place together, though. I hope we can be friends.”

Finn sat with them and drank his coffee while Doctor Solo's went cold on the counter. He seemed like a great guy, all easy smiles and sparkling eyes. Rey liked him instantly.

After half an hour, she decided to take pity on Doctor Solo and remake his coffee. It couldn’t do any harm to get on his good side. Rey was eager to meet him. Even if he didn’t need an intern, it would definitely benefit any potential future career for her to have influential friends.

Rey excused herself and slipped out of the café via the stairwell, carrying the hot coffee and a cookie up the two flights of stairs. She suddenly felt apprehensive, standing outside the locked internal door to the newly occupied office.

She took a deep breath to steady herself before knocking firmly on the door.

And she waited.

Was that... muffled shouting... she could hear?

She knocked again. Harder.

Footsteps and slightly less muffled shouting preceded the hurried unlocking of the door, followed by the irritated, then surprised, then irritated face of Doctor Solo.

He had his mobile phone pressed against one of his overlarge ears, which were just visible beneath a mop of thick black hair. She could hear someone talking on the other end. They stared at each other for a moment before Solo glanced down at the coffee and cookie in her hands, and stepped back to let her in.

He cleared his throat and continued his conversation as if she wasn’t there. “This isn’t a request, Poe. You owe me. You’re unemployed at the moment anyway, I’d be doing you a favour.”

Rey found a desk that wasn’t covered in boxes of paperwork and set the coffee and cookie down. She watched Doctor Solo’s broad back as he paced back and forth in front of a wide window.

“Yes, of _course_ I’m going to pay you, you fucking moron.”

He was handsome. Tall, dark, and handsome. Rey blushed when their eyes met briefly, but he looked away without reacting, pushing his glasses up his prominent nose. _Oh crap._ Doctor Solo was hot.

“Hold on a minute, Poe—” He looked back at Rey and raised his eyebrows, covering the bottom of the phone with one hand. “Did you want something? Thanks for the coffee and everything, but I’m kind of busy right now, so...” He pointed to the door.

_Oh_.

Rey had gotten the arsehole vibe pretty much straight off the mark with this guy. Definitely. One hundred percent. Dickhead. With that deep voice, that stupid fucking long black hair. He was classic villain material.

She scowled at him, but it was pointless, since he’d already turned away from her and was continuing his conversation facing the window. What a dick.

++++

Poe agreed. Ben knew he would. One down. Mr Thirtysomething-Handsome-Amicable-Stupid was ready to roll. He had someone in mind for the less attractive, rich, asshole thirtysomething. His ‘friend’ Armitage Hux. He was a medical doctor, but Ben knew he would see the merit in his study; he knew he’d agree to participate.

“You’ll be our guy in his twenties,” Ben said bluntly.

Finn choked on his fresh cup of coffee. Ben didn’t have a fresh cup of coffee. What the fuck.

“I'm not doing it,” Finn snapped. “It's gross.”

Ben sighed. “You’re doing it, Finn. We need this. I need someone I can trust to be respectful towards the subject—someone who’s not going to take advantage of the situation, someone I know isn’t going to let on about the experiment.”

Finn grumbled something unintelligible while Ben hung another certificate on the wall.

“Where the hell did you get that coffee, anyway? Why don’t I have one?”

“Rey brought it up for me. She’s so great, haven’t you met her yet? She and Rose run the café downstairs. Rey lives on the middle floor.”

Rey? Was it the girl who’d brought him a coffee before? “Brown hair, early twenties?”

Finn nodded. “Yeah, that’s Rey. No idea why she didn’t bring you one. She brought me a cookie, too.”

Huh. “It's fine, I’ll just go down and buy one.”

++++

“Ethel is telling me that she’s noticed you’re unhappy in your life at the moment; she says she wants to see you focus more on yourself,” Rey murmured.

The middle-aged woman in front of her nodded. “That’s just like grandma to say that. I suppose the kids have been a bit of a handful. It’s easy to forget about myself sometimes.”

“Well, she’s very insistent about it. She said that you should speak to your husband about giving you a break sometimes—” she paused, pressing a finger into her temple and closing her eyes. “—you've spoken to him about it before, and it wasn’t successful?”

“How on earth? Yes, I have, and he was very sweet for half a day, but it didn’t last.”

“Ethel says she knows he has good intentions—”

“It's so funny that she should say that, they never did get on when she was alive. She was always telling me I could do better.”

_Shit_. “She wants to respect your wishes, and she’s trying to see past their disagreement and find the best in him. She has faith that if you can—”

Sunlight flooded the booth as the drape was unceremoniously yanked open, revealing the once again mildly irritated face of Doctor Ben Solo.

“You’re a fucking psychic.”

Rey clenched her jaw. “I’m with a client right now.”

Rose rushed over to intervene. “Doctor Solo! Your coffee is ready, you can’t interrupt a reading like this!”

The client looked completely thrown by the whole situation, her jaw hanging slack as she stared at Doctor Solo in shock and confusion.

“I'm so sorry about this,” Rey placated. “We’re going to have to wrap this up here. I’m afraid the... connection has been interrupted; I’ve lost my focus.” She got up to stand next to Doctor Solo, not so subtly shoving him away with her hip. “This reading was on the house. Please come again so that I can make this up to you another time.”

“Don’t come again. Go and get some therapy. Jesus,” Solo growled.

Rey cast one final apologetic smile at the horrified customer and grabbed Doctor Solo’s arm, pulling him across the café and out into the deserted stairwell.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “How dare you?”

“How dare I what? Get in the way of you taking advantage of some poor innocent troubled human who could do with some actual real genuine help? God, I’m such an asshole,” he retorted sarcastically.

“I give people meaningful advice for a small fee. They want to hear what I have to say to them. It’s hardly extortion, I only charge a bloody tenner for a reading. If they get a coffee it’s only a fiver, what the hell is so wrong with that?”

Solo stuffed a hand into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, taking out a twenty and handing it to her. “I bought a coffee. I'd like a reading. I expect change.”

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did somebody say... interrogation scene??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is unbetad, because basically it's two days to Christmas, and my beta reader has lots of real life things to do! I hope it's fine.
> 
> So basically, when I posted this on Twitter, I got a comment about Ben being an MRA... I just wanted to clarify, Ben is a profoundly damaged person in this fic. He will learn lessons. He will make some bad decisions, first. But he will heal.
> 
> Honestly, I know that Ben Solo being disrespectful towards women is ooc, but I wanted to have a fic where he is actually Rey's enemy, and office rivals is sometimes just not enough. 
> 
> He needs to do some bad stuff in order to actually need redemption. If you can't deal with Ben being a bit of a cunt, maybe this isn't the fic for you? He's not an MRA, though. And he is the same emotionally wrecked soft boi, I promise.
> 
> He does not hate women, it's just easier for his brain to believe that women don't feel real love, than to believe that his mother never loved him (which she does.) 
> 
> Anyway. All this will be covered in the fic going forward, I just wanted to make all this clear, so that I can avoid any mean comments.

Doctor Solo sat across from her in the booth, his arms crossed over his chest and his dark eyes boring into hers. He leaned back in his seat with his legs crossed. _How closed off can someone’s body language be?!_

It didn’t matter. After she first met him the other day, she'd done her research. She knew plenty without having to make a single bit of effort in reading him.

Doctor Benjamin Solo, Psy.D.; grandson of the infamous Anakin Skywalker, famed for his contribution to psychology, but struck off and shamed in a scandal about an unethical behavioural experiment involving an entire class of five year olds.

_Bet that hangs over him._

His left eye twitched when she smiled at him. “So, Doctor Solo—”

“How about I talk first?” He sat up straight, and placed his hands down on the velour table cloth. “I thought it might be fun if I gave you a reading. Did I mention my deep connection to the spirit realm?”

Rey raised an eyebrow at him.

_Oh?_

He touched his forefingers to his temples and closed his eyes. “Ah, yes.” He opened his eyes and pinned her with his gaze again. “For some reason, I’m not getting any response, it’s as though you’re completely alone in this world. You’re lonely.”

Okay. Rey wasn’t gonna lie to herself. He was good. This bastard. She forced herself to hold his stare, willing herself not to look away, not to accidentally look at anything that might give him a hint. _I’m not giving you anything._

But he wasn’t done. “You've been struggling to sleep... I would say recently, but something tells me it’s been years. A lifetime.”

Rey grit her teeth and leaned towards him, uncomfortably close since he was already leaning in to her. His breath smelled of coffee. “I’m getting some shouting from my end, maybe your connection is weaker than you thought. It keeps blasting out the letters ‘B' ‘S' like a foghorn.”

He relaxed back into his seat and smirked at her, silently bidding her to continue.

“You’re afraid.”

His eye twitched again. Good.

“You’re afraid that you’ll never get past the legacy of your grandfather, Anakin Skywalker.”

He was out of his seat and through the purple drape before she could blink. By the time she'd made her way back over to the counter, he was nowhere to be seen.

++++

“I want that girl,” Ben spat as he stormed back into the office.

Finn looked up from his desk. “What?”

“That girl. Rey. She’s the one. She’s the subject I want for the experiment,” he clarified.

“No way, man. We can’t use someone we know for this!”

Ben slumped down in one of the leather chairs in front of Finn’s desk. “Why not? It would be incredibly convenient if she agrees. And fuck Hux, I’m participating. I’ll be the thirtysomething ugly asshole. I’m wealthy enough.”

Finn barked a brief laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

He shrugged. “I dunno... I guess I just think this is kind of a stupid way to go after a girl you like.”

It was Ben’s turn to laugh. _What? Like_ her? The very idea was preposterous. He’d never met anyone more infuriating in his life. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve picked her because I _don't_ like her. And she doesn’t like me, either. That dynamic will make the results of the experiment even more interesting.”

“You don’t like Rey? Why? I mean, I can understand why she wouldn’t like you—no offence—"

“None taken.”

“—but if she doesn’t like you, how do you expect to get her to fall in love with you?”

“I’ll pursue her, just like you will; just like Poe will. She knows what my personality is like already, but she’ll fall for me when I drop more than you tools could afford to on our dates.” Ben shrugged.

“Bold of you to assume she’ll ever go on a date with you.”

++++

It was a full week before Doctor Solo deigned to speak to Rey again. A strange week. He seemed to be avoiding her; at the same time, she would catch him staring at her when he thought she wasn’t looking.

He didn't take his lunch breaks at the café, he would come in every morning to buy a coffee—ordering from Rose—and slip away up to his office, not to be seen again until the next day, since he took the outside stairs to leave.

Finn spent so much time at the café that Rey began to wonder if he actually did any work upstairs. The good impression he’d originally left had stuck, and they were well on the way to becoming friends. It was clear that there was a kind of mutual crush going on between him and Rose.

This morning, Doctor Solo cornered Rey while she was wiping a table. It was unexpected. He was tall. Why did he have to be so damn tall?

“Can I get a coffee?” he asked, then after a moment, “please?”

Rey nodded towards the counter, where Rose was standing by the coffee machine, playing on her phone. “Go ahead.”

He shifted awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. _What the hell? Shy?_ “I was hoping you’d get it for me, I feel like we got off on the wrong foot... there’s something I wanted to speak to you about.”

Interesting.

Rey indicated the booth they’d shared before, and went to fetch two coffees. She left the drape open this time when she took her seat opposite him and placed their drinks down on the table.

She crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly.

“Finn tells me you’re interested in psychology,” he said.

Well, that was unexpected. She had spoken to Finn quite a bit about their mutual interest, it had been refreshing and enjoyable to speak to someone about something that wasn’t coffee or dead people. “...Yes, I am.”

He nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I wonder if you might be interested in participating in a psychological experiment? I thought, since you have an interest, I would ask you before I put out an ad searching for a subject.”

Very interesting.

“What’s the experiment?”

“Obviously, I can’t go into details about the specifics, but essentially it will take place over three months. It’s related to what women find attractive about men, and how that changes. You’ll have to come in to the university hospital a once a month for fMRI scans, you’ll be debriefed at the end.”

“Why me?”

“We needed a woman in her twenties; since you live and work right by the office, it would be convenient. After Finn said that you were interested in the field, I thought you might like the opportunity to work with us.”

It was a good opportunity, Rey had to admit. “Can I think about it?”

“Of course, but we want to get started before the end of the month. If you decide to participate, just let me know and I’ll give you the consent forms.”

“Will you...” She took a deep breath. God, this was embarrassing. “Will you pay me?”

He tried to hide his smirk. Yep, still a dick. “Yes, you will be paid.”

“I’ll do it.”

++++

Ben sat behind his desk, glaring directly at Poe Dameron, who was lounging in one of the two leather chairs on the other side.

“So what, I just try to get some girl to fall in love with me? Is she hot?”

Ben grimaced. “Hot? What the...” He ran a hand through his hair. “She’s...” God. He hadn't even thought about it. Why didn’t he ask if she was snarky? He drew an image of Rey to the forefront of his mind. She was... not difficult to look at. “She is attractive, yes.”

Poe grinned. “Great! When do I start? You said she works downstairs?”

“Feel free to introduce yourself whenever you like. She signed the consent form yesterday. I want you to work on the reception desk while you’re here, you can tell her you’re my deadbeat brother. She’s going to have an fMRI scan before any of us ask her out, though. And I need you to be clear on this, Poe, under no circumstances are you to have sex with her.”

“What?” Poe groaned. “How the heck are we supposed to fall in love if we can’t touch each other?”

“You can touch, just no sexual contact. It’s only three months, Poe, you can survive it. If you fall in love, you can fuck each other’s brains out after the experiment is over.” _Definitely not going to happen._

“Okay. Cool. I can make that work. The three of us going after one girl; me, you, and Finn, right?” He smirked. “I got this in the bag.”

“Don’t be so confident. Between the three of us, Finn is the youngest, he’s the closest to her own age—they're already friendly. As things stand, he has the best chance.”

++++

Rey was preparing a cappuccino when he came in—the obnoxiously handsome man who appeared to be friendly with Finn.

She could feel his eyes on her as she took the coffee over to a waiting customer, and they were still on her when she arrived back at the counter.

He held out his hand for her, letting his eyes drift up and down her body appreciatively, not bothering to hide his interest. “I’m Poe, Poe Dameron. I’m Ben’s brother.”

Brother? He didn't look anything like Doctor Solo. But Rey shrugged off the thought. She knew that blood didn't really mean anything when it came to family.

She took his hand and shook it firmly. “Nice to meet you, I'm Rey.”

He grinned. “I know.”

 _What_.

“You might recognise me from a little show called _The Days of Our Lives._ ” His grin widened and he pointed to his own face with both index fingers. “Doctor Chad Ramirez? Right?”

Rey did not. “Wow... maybe? I don’t watch that much telly actually. Maybe I've seen you in a magazine?”

He visibly deflated, and Rey cursed her own lack of tact. It was nice to have a man paying attention to her. It had been a while since she’d been interested in dating, and this guy had potential.

“Y’know what? Actually, maybe I do remember... something about an affair? I vaguely remember a big storyline about that...”

Poe perked up instantly. “Yes! That was such a great storyline, my biggest one! Shame they had to end it with me being murdered, but—” he shrugged. “—you win some, you lose some. So that’s why I’m helping Ben out here for a while.”

It was strange to hear Doctor Solo called “Ben” so casually like that. Even Finn called him “Doctor Solo.” The name was surprisingly endearing. Ben. A soft name.

“So what are you helping Doctor Solo with while you’re here?” she asked brightly.

He looked uncomfortable for a brief moment. _What was that?_ “Uh—I’m working the reception desk for him.”

Reception desk? In a private office? “Oh. I didn’t realise he was receiving a volume of calls he couldn’t handle without a receptionist.”

“He’s sort of helping me out... I’ve been out if work for a little while.” He looked over at Finn and Rose, who were deep in conversation, seemingly oblivious to the interaction going on beside them. No escape there. He changed the subject. “So, Rey, I heard you live here, too. Do you live on your own, or is there—”

Doctor Solo picked that moment to appear from the stairwell door. He was wearing a thick black coat and had a laptop bag slung over his shoulder. He raised a hand to Rey in greeting as he approached.

“Do you have some free time this morning? I have our first session booked at the hospital. I can change it if necessary,” he said.

Rey glanced around the quiet café. Tuesday morning. Practically dead. “I’m sure Rose can cover me for a couple of hours.”

He nodded. “If you’re ready, we can go now. Finn, let’s get going.”

Finn hopped out of his seat, smiling apologetically at Rose before following Doctor Solo towards the door.

“You can handle the morning on your own, right?” she asked Rose quickly.

Rose cheerfully agreed, obviously in a good mood from all the eye fucking with Finn, and Poe walked beside Rey on the way out of the café.

“I do live on my own, by the way,” she said as they approached Doctor Solo’s fancy black Audi. “And I don’t have a boyfriend, if that’s what you were going to ask.”

Poe beamed at her. “I _was_ about to ask that. I’m glad to hear it, maybe we can grab a drink some time?”

Doctor Solo grabbed Poe roughly by the arm and pushed him into the rear passenger side seat next to Finn.

Wow.

He leaned inti the car and hissed something that Rey couldn’t hear angrily into Poe’s ear.

Poe looked contrite as he mumbled something back. She heard the word “hot” and blushed.

Doctor Solo slammed the door in his face. What the hell?

“Doctor Solo—”

“Ben,” he said with a frown as he turned to face her. “Please stop calling me ‘Doctor Solo.’”

O...kay. “Ben—” God, that sounded so weird. Why did it sound so weird? “—what exactly is going to happen with during this scan? What are you looking for?”

He opened the passenger door for her and she got into the car, he closed it softly behind her.

“It'll scan your brain activity while you look at a series of photographs. This first scan is to see your brains reaction to these photographs before the experiment begins; the next two will be to see if there is any significant difference as time goes on,” he said as he climbed in to the drivers side and switched on the ignition with the touch of a button.

“Photos of what?”

He shifted in his seat, not taking his eyes off the road as he pulled the car out. “Men.”

“Men?”

“Yes, Rey. Men. What were you expecting? I told you this was a study about women’s preferences; who they’re attracted to. There will be pictures of celebrities, men you don’t know, and some you do. This is all part of the experiment.”

“Men I know? You don’t know any men I know, though,” Rey said, creasing her brow. She tried to even think of any men she knew, and only one name came to mind, Unkar Plutt. She shuddered. Hopefully She wouldn’t have to look at that ugly mug.

“I do. Myself, Finn, and now Poe.”

Rey couldn’t help it. She tried, oh god, how she tried to stop herself. She burst out laughing; she laughed until tears leaked from her eyes.

Ben waited patiently for her to finish, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. “Are you done?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Tell me honestly, is this all just an elaborate ruse to see if I have a crush on you? Don’t hold your breath,” Rey said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

“It is not.” He cleared his throat. “This experiment is costing upwards of two hundred thousand dollars, and I hope you will treat it seriously.”

 _Oh_.

“Not to mention the fact that we don’t need a fancy brain scanning machine to tell that she doesn’t have a crush on you, right bro?” Poe cackled from the back seat, leaning forwards to slap him on the shoulder.

Ben didn’t laugh. Rey didn’t laugh. The rest of the journey passed in an awkward silence.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Rey was handed a hospital gown and ushered into a private room to change.

Ben gave her a brief pep talk before she lay down on the bed of the imposing machine, telling her to relax, try not to think too hard about anything and just look at the photographs.

It wasn’t difficult; Rey didn’t mind cramped spaces. She enjoyed looking at the photos. She had never much been into ogling celebrities, so the pictures of various Chrises didn’t do much for her.

She couldn’t help her involuntary smile when Finn’s grinning face appeared on the screen in front of her eyes.

She almost laughed when what was evidently a professional headshot of Poe appeared, smouldering at her from the screen, but he looked good.

Ben’s picture was a wildcard, she was anticipating it before Poe’s face had even disappeared. She knew that objectively, she found him attractive, but his behaviour since their first interaction had put a dampener on any feelings she might’ve developed.

She still wasn’t sure how her treacherous brain would react to a photo of him smouldering like Poe, or worse, actually smiling, like Finn.

She needn’t have worried. The picture was essentially an unflattering mugshot. His student ID photo maybe?

No smile; no smoulder. Just a sort of dorky looking, slightly younger Ben Solo. She had no trouble keeping her face straight at his serious expression.

She had no womanly flutterings. She just looked at the picture until it was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who subscribed and left a kudo on the last chapter! I hope everyone has a Happy Christmas!
> 
> Edit: 16/01/19. If anyone is reading this fic, I'm sorry I haven't stuck to my schedule. My kids got ill over xmas and it's still ongoing. Since I got so behind, I decided to completely finish writing this fic before posting it, so once updates start again there will be a full chapter count and regular updates. Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> It may be dying, but feel free to come and say hi on [Tumblr](https://situation-normal.tumblr.com/)


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